


Requiem For Fish

by Winterironsoldier



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is Jewish, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Catra is Latina, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Forgot to add that last one whoops, Glimmer and Bow are undecided, Period-Typical Racism, Period-Typical Sexism, PeriodTypical Homophobia, Psychological Drama, RMS Titanic, Scorpia is Norwegian, Shameless Smut, Shipwrecks, but with plot, no one dies, or do they, shit happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 01:10:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17091245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterironsoldier/pseuds/Winterironsoldier
Summary: The RMS Titanic is called "The Ship of Dreams" but by the end of this voyage, it will be known for a far different reason.-Catra and Scorpia, two best friends tied at the hip since birth have gone through many things together; the loss of family, fires, and even squalor. The only thing they haven't gone through is a near-death experie- Jinx.Well, shit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Due to growing up around each other, our cinnamon roll is now a sinnamon roll
> 
> Pray for her

10th April 1912

 

“Catra!” Scorpia called with her usual dorky smile shining through in her voice and she flashed two tickets in front of Catra's face as if she were holding a quarter of a million dollar lottery ticket. Which, would be absolutely better than just a pair of flimsy tickets in all honesty. “You'll never guess what happened to me today!”

 

Now, there were two options to select here. She could go with the jerk route or she could feign curiosity. But let's be realistic, when is she ever not going to choose the jerk route?

 

She let a sardonic smile flash over her lips and tilted her head ever so slightly. “Let's see here, from the elated look on your face, you either A, got laid or B, you won a lottery ticket and you chose to buy a lifetime supply of motor oil to help make your cool gadgets with.” She drawls oh-so-casually. “And we both know how unlikely option A is. So that leaves B, but who in their right mind is going to go, ‘huh, we should choose this glorified asshole as our winner. She definitely won't waste this money on making gadgets that nobody and I mean literally nobody is going to buy until maybe in the late 60s’. And not even adults will be interested in the gadgets, unless they're your spawn but I don't want to think about that because that entails the high probability of you eventually becoming a mother and nobody is ready for that. Especially not me.” She gave a shiver at just the image of a baby with perfect hair and teeth.

 

Honestly, everything that she said to the girl seemed a little mean out of context but they regularly made fun of each other all the time. It was like a side-hobby of theirs. A sobby. Okay, scratch that word from existence. It never happened and it will never be repeated.

 

“Haha, very funny, Catra. Are you done yet?” Scorpia’s eyes crinkled in amusement and she finally handed the tickets over for her own personal inspection. Well, okay, nothing weird ab-

 

Wait a fucking hot minute.

 

“Scorpia.” She spoke up quietly, ssher eyes were not leaving the single line of fine print for even a second. This had to be some kind of cosmic joke, there was no way she could have ever afforded these tickets on her own. Not with that shitty part-time job at her father's mechanic shop.

 

“Catra.” She could hear the shit-eating grin in Scorpia's voice and she finally looked up, holding the tickets in her hands tightly.

 

“Is this some kind of shitty joke? It's not very funny.” There was a slight tremble in her voice but she chose to ignore it. Tremble? What tremble? Haha.

 

“You think I would joke about getting two tickets onto the Ship of Dreams?” She raised her perfect eyebrows incredulously at ssher and Catra wanted to deck her where she stood but she held her ground instead and gave the tickets back indifferently.

 

“So, who’re you going with?” She asked nonchalantly. Who cares if Scorpia was going with a male friend of hers? Catra certainly didn't care. Nope. Just look at her not caring.

 

Her face slowly turned hesitant and doubtful as she eyed her, “Well, I was thinking about inviting you but if you don't want to go-”

 

“No, fuck that. I want to go.” Catra says hurriedly like the desperate two-cent whore that she was. “It'll be great. Just you, me, and two thousand strangers all crammed together on a huge ocean liner that’s just starting its maiden voyage. What could go wrong?” Jinx.

 

Scorpia raised her brows at her nonplussed and she rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the docks and gazed out at the murky waters as they beat rhythmically against the ocean liner that they would soon be boarding, “Can you believe it?” Scorpia’s voice had gone soft as she clapped a hand on her back and she felt her stomach do somersaults as she grinned a tiny bit, “We’re moving to America. Can you imagine all the great opportunities that we’ll have? I could even set up a new mechanic shop there! And you'll finally be able to get an apartment that’s better than your current crummy one. This is an opportunity of a lifetime right here.”

 

Of course, Catra had to ruin the moment, she couldn't just let her talk down about her living quarters.

 

“Crummy? I'll have you know that I fixed the place up and it's pretty spiffy looking now.” She huffs as Scorpia gave her a leveled look. Yeah, there was no fooling this girl. “Okay, okay, so maybe it needs a little more work but it's not completely a lost cause yet.”

 

“You called me a week ago because your bedroom ceiling crumbled and you were worried about the state of your precious artwork.” She teased. It was completely true. All of it was true.

 

“Well-”

 

“Excuse me.” A disgruntled voice came from somewhere above them and she had to blink a moment as this new challenger entered their breathing area. Scorpia was taller than her and that was a pretty big accomplishment. Maybe they could win the right to stand here just yet. Scorpia would just have to be properly rewarded later, maybe with some smuggled alcohol from first-class because apparently third-class didn't deserve to get completely wrecked on the ship. Then again, she couldn't be too mad, the RMS Titanic had the best accommodations for third-class passengers and really, all she needed was for the ship to do its job and get herself and Scorpia safely to New York with little to no problems. They didn't need fancy privileges or anything like that. She was content just being with her crush- wait, what? What crush? Catra definitely didn't have a crush on Scorpia. Pfft.

 

“You are two seconds from getting thrown into the harbor if you don't get your thumb from out of your ass and move the fuck out of my way.” The girl growled and this time, she actually looked her over. Blonde hair tied back, sky blue eyes piercing, and a jut to her pretty little nose and chin. She kind of looked Jewish actually,  which is definitely cool with her.

 

Those eyes sharpened with promise and- okay, yeah, the chick was starting to get impatient and yep, those were definitely ‘I'm-going-to-kill-you-and-stuff-your-dismembered-corpse-under-my-floorboards-until-I-eventually-tell-the-police-that-yes-I-did-indeed-murder-you’ eyes. She politely stepped out of the way but nothing was stopping her as she checked her and her grade A ass out. Despite it being Spring, the girl was wearing a red jacket that had holes in it and tight pants that kind of made her wonder what was going on with her wardrobe. She decidedly just glossed over the fact that her hair was sticking up every which way. It was kind of cute. Slowly, her eyes moved down to her ass and her fingers twitched a tiny bit. Twitchy fingers.

 

“Uh, Catra?” Scorpia called hesitantly.

 

For a moment, she was worried that her best friend had suddenly become a psychic and she heard all of her gay as fuck thoughts but she calmly reassured herself that that could never happen. Scorpia was just not cool enough to randomly discover that she had psychic powers.

 

....Right?

 

“That's my name, don't wear it out,” Catra replied automatically as she smoothed back a few strands of her greasy hair.

 

“Do you wanna meet back here in an hour with our stuff? It's not like we can just leave without clothes.” She chuckled uneasily.

 

“Oh, fuck. Yeah, okay. Sounds good.” She agreed readily. If it got her away from having to talk about how obviously she was checking out the Jewish girl, then, by all means, she was more than down for it.

 

An hour later found her waiting on the Southampton docks with two suitcases is held in both hands. she only packed for a few days since she didn't own much in the way of clothing and she packed her art supplies. God knows what else she would be doing on the ship being a third class passenger and all.

 

The line was long and she was standing in it and as she grew closer and closer to the ticket man, she grew worried but that changed as soon as she caught sight of a tuft of platinum hair followed by deep blue-grey eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

 

“Scorpia!” Catra calls loudly and Scorpia bounded straight over and took her place in line with her, much to the people in line behind her displeasure. Ha, fuck them.

 

“It took a little longer than I expected to get away from dad.” She explained as she gave an exasperated look. “He was trying to get me to stay home but really, what fool would miss out on this kind of opportunity?”

 

“Good question but alas, I don't have the answers you are looking for.”

 

Scorpia rolled her eyes and she smirked as they both finally handed over their tickets and began to board the ocean liner but the ticket master stopped them.

 

“Third class, huh? You better head over there and get a health inspection. All third class passengers are required to pass it in order to board the ship.” The taller man drawled as his eyes bored into both her and Scorpia.

 

“Health inspection? Just because we’re third class-”

 

Catra clapped a hand over Scorpia's mouth and sighed as she glared at her, “Let's just get this over with. It's not like we have anything to hide, right?” She raised her eyebrows at her as she steered her over to where a man was inspecting a woman’s hair for lice.

 

“Right…” Scorpia sighed indignantly.

 

Once the woman’s check over was done, it was Scorpia's turn but instead of watching her, Catra’s eyes went straight towards where the beautiful Jew with the grade A ass from before was boarding the ship. She was sent right in, which meant that she was probably a first or second class passenger. For shame, that effectively ruined her chances with her. Or did it? Under the cover of night, she could easily just sneak into the first and second class areas- her eyes went to her own paint splotched clothing and she smoothed down her greasy hair. Yeah, that plan wasn't going to work at all but maybe, if she were particularly lucky, the Jew would get lost and-

 

“Next!” The health inspector barked and Catra quickly took her seat on the small wooden stool just as rough hands tore their way and that through her precious hair. It made her wince and she bit her lip as a thermometer was shoved into her mouth. Scorpia was laughing, she just knew it but soon, she was given a clean bill of health and she finally boarded the ship with the traitor.

 

The wide deck was crowded with excited passengers and they were all at the side and waving to friends, family, and loved ones. For a moment, she considered joining them for the irony but the promise of getting set up in their room sounded more inviting.

 

So, they both squeeze their way past the cesspool of sweaty bodies and made their way to the steerage which hosted the third class passengers’ accommodations. It was by no means easy, she kept getting pushed this way and that but eventually, they made it there and she set her twin suitcases underneath a lower bunk with a sigh. She made it there alive but at what cost? Her job’s a joke, she's broke, and her love life's D.O.A.

 

Scorpia studied her briefly before putting her own luggage on the top bunk that was directly over her own. Luckily for them, they managed to get a room that only had two bunk beds. Meaning, there'd only be two strangers rooming with them throughout the voyage. And what a miracle that is, all that was left was to hope that they weren't both complete assholes or anything. Jinx.  
  
As soon as she thought this, the door to the berth opened and in walked some pretty assholish looking people. For instance, if you were to melt candy sauce and vinegar, and everything so very not nice, then that's a pretty accurate description of their new roomies. Catra deserved all the diplomas for that astute observation. All of them.  
  
The taller of the two had dark hair with a bow slung over his back and skin s bit darker than her own. The other had a cookie between her soft lips and pink hair and she flashed a grin at her and Scorpia. She slowly started weighing his options, was it really worth moving to America if she had to spend the whole trip with these two?  
  
Hell. Fucking. Yes. It definitely was.  
  
“You do an awful lotta starin’.” The guy with the bow mused as he stared Catra down, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, which was fully earned.  
  
“Yeah, well, you're doing your own fair share of staring.” Scorpia pointed out. “But are you two looking for first class? You look like you'd be royalty or something.”  
  
“No, no, simple craftsmen and ex-military.” The shorter one laughed awkwardly. Riiiiight.  
  
“Oh! Well, I'm Scorpia Ash and this is my best friend, Catrina Michalka.” Scorpia offered her hand over to the guy eagerly.  
  
“Bow Reccula and this is my friend, Glimmer Brightmoon.” He shook Scorpia's hand before turning back and putting his own luggage on the top bunk.  
  
“Well, it's nice to meet both of you!” Scorpia grinned as she turned to Catra and she got the sense that she was in trouble for something. She didn't know what but it was something. “Catra, you've been quiet for a while now. Are you feeling okay?” Ah.  
  
“I'm feeling better than a sea captain that just got home from a long fishing trip into the deep icy waters of the Atlantic ocean and decided to just go ahead and grab a prostitute or two to have fun with but then his wife found out and it kind of all went downhill from there.” She confirmed.  
  
Scorpia blinked slowly back at her and then looked away, “Well, now that we have our berth picked out, do you want to go exploring?”  
  
“There's probably still a lot of people hanging around near the promenade deck, and even more in the corridors, but I don’t see why not.” She shrugged, having a small hope to see the Jew with the choice ass again.  
  
Bow perked up, “You guys are leaving? Mind if we tag along?”  
  
Yes, yes Catra did mind. She minded a lot, thank you very much. It's not like she would have any chance of hunting down the cutie from earlier if she had two literal fetuses towering over her.  
  
“Um, sure,” Scorpia spoke like the true traitor she was.  
  
“Let's get going. We've got places to go, Jews to see.” Catra threw an arm around Scorpia's shoulders loosely and steered her out of the berth and into the crowded corridor.  
  
“Jews, huh?” Scorpia joked, elbowing her. “Didn’t know you were into religious types.” Her blue eyes looked at Catra as a goofy grin spread on her face.  
  
“Religious types, yeah. Totally into them. I thought we were best friends, how could you not know this about me?” Catra shook her head in mock dejection.  
  
“Well, you never bring up your interests in them, that’s all. You worry me sometimes, making me think that you’re so into your art and mechanics that you forget that other people exist, y’know?” She tried to ruffle Catra's hair, feeling it. “You really should wash your hair, do you wipe your oil paint into it or something?”  
  
“For shame, you've found out my secret. Yes, I like to put brown oil paint in my hair, it's the only way that I can truly be the best version of myself.” She replied gravely as she opened the door that went out from the corridor and stepped through. “You can't tell anyone about my se-” Catra ran chest first into someone and she regretted everything about her life leading up to this moment.  
  
“Watch where you're going, you cuck.” The Jew hissed as she rubbed at her. Hell, Catra wanted to rub at it too.

 

Wait.

 

Did she just call her a cuck?  
  
“I was, you’re just not in my line of sight, bud.” She leaned down to meet her gaze with a smirk on her face. “I thought Jews were supposed to be all high and proud and not… kittens.” She purred at her to emphasize meaning. Totally not hitting on her. Not one tiny bit.  
  
The Jew's famous glare came back to haunt her face and Catra really wanted to kiss it off, “I'm not a kitten. Now, get the hell out of my way, I need to clean the bathroom.”  
  
“Why would you be needing to clean the bath-” And just like a brick being thrown into her face, the realization of her new outfit change and her statement hit Catra… like a brick being thrown in her face. She was great similes, shut up. “Oh.” It’s all that can escape her lips. Maybe she wasn’t so out of her league after all. She just works for the ship and has access to everywhere.  
  
“Yeah, laugh it up. If you even can all the way from the steerage.” A slow smirk started on the Jew’s plush lips. Ha, very funny. Classic.  
  
“I’ll laugh it up, all right. I’m going right up to the promenade deck just to laugh.” Catra threatened, trying to fight every urge to try and kiss those plush lips of hers. God, it’s like she’s just plush. Plush ass, plush lips, probably some plush ti- She had to quickly shake the thought away before she got carried away.  
  
The Jew scowled and as she shifted, her name tag came into view. Adorabelle. Huh. “Don't make me beat you with my broom. Get moving.”  
  
“Alright, alright. See you later then, general janitor Adora.” She moved aside, taking in the sight of her plush ass yet again. It looked even better in uniform, dear Gods.  
  
“Uh, Catra?” Her forgotten best friend called amusedly. “Was it really necessary to pick on the janitor? She cleans our bathrooms. Just imagine what she has to go through. Seven hundred people and only two bathrooms.”  
  
“I’ll save her the trouble of one passenger, Scorpia, it’s fine. I’ll just pee off the deck. No big deal.” Catra jokes, rolling her eyes. “Besides, I was poking fun, not like I was putting her off for being a Jew. What time do we live in? 1787? Come on, I’m not a savage.”  
  
Scorpia scoffed and rolled her eyes as the two of them entered the stairwell of G deck somewhere along the way, they lost their two roomies. So sad. “So, what's first on the agenda today, Miss Michalka, are you going to paint the ocean blue or maybe the Titanic setting sail?”  
  
“I think I’m going to paint what I have always wanted to paint. The skyline of Southampton. It would be the most glorious thing ever. I’ll even sketch it first before I paint it. A quick sketch.” Catra told her excitedly.  
  
“You're such a dork.” She chuckled as they both headed towards the top deck.  
  
“Whatever, I’m not as big of a dork as you are, Scorpia.” Catra ruffled her hair, keeping a step or two ahead of her as she climbed up the many stairs to reach the top deck. She wanted to see the ship pull out of the harbor. Luckily, there weren't too many people coming and going on the stairs and it makes ascending easier.  
  
As soon as they both made it to the top deck, Scorpia leaned against the railing and peered down at all the people that were taking pictures and whatnot.  
  
“Scorpia, if you’re trying to get your picture taken, I doubt they’d be able to see your face from all the way down there.” Catra jokes, poking her side.  
  
Scorpia chuckled loudly just as the ship started its maiden voyage, pulling from the dock as everyone started cheering and screaming. She found it pretty loud as she watched Southampton slowly moving away. A smile found its way to her face, excitement bubbling inside of her. Nothing could destroy this moment. Jinx.  
  
Not even a minute passed, and soon, she felt a tiny jerk as she glanced down towards the head of the ship. Her eyes widened as she saw a smaller ship, which was leading the RMS Titanic out to sea having a problem, and what’s worse, the ship was heading straight for it, “Oh shit.” It instinctively fell from her lips, pointing it out to Scorpia pretty quickly.  
  
Scorpia’s eyes widened, “Is this a bad omen?” She asked worriedly.  
  
“I doubt it, probably just a small problem. We’ll be fine. I mean, c’mon, this ship can’t sink. It’s unsinkable.” She looked over at Scorpia, trying to convince herself of its inability to sink. It wasn’t hard, it really was unsinkable.  
  
“Yeah… You're right.” Scorpia swallowed audibly as they both watched the smaller ship worriedly.  
  
“Two bucks says we make it,” Catra told her suddenly, she was gonna make this a bet. Even if she didn’t have two dollars.  
  
“Alright, you're on.” She agreed.  
  
“Have fun losing, Ash.” She smirks.  
  
Sure enough, the RMS Titanic narrowly avoided hitting the New York and Scorpia turned to her with an exaggerated eye roll and a hand offering two dollars to her. Thrill pulsed through her and she raised her brows playfully.  
  
“I don't like being handed things.” She remarked softly.  
  
Scorpia rolled her eyes again and set the dollars in front of her instead to which she quickly snatched them up. Yay, money.  
  
“Pleasure making business with you, Scorpy. Man, I can buy some c-” She paused, looking at Scorpia as she winked. “Let’s just say, don’t be jealous if I bring a man into the berth and lock you and the two boys out.”  
  
Scorpia looked at her aghast, “Catrina! You can't pay people to sleep with you!”  
  
“Well, it's the only way she’ll ever get someone to sleep with her.” A cranky voice came from behind them. She quickly turned to see who it was, holding her freshly won two dollars in her hands tightly.  
  
“I wasn’t going to _pay_ people to sleep with me, I was going to buy condoms so people _could_ sleep with me.”  
  
Adora raised her brows at her, “Condoms, huh? You think you'll be able to get that far in a week?”  
  
“I’m pretty sure with a tiny bit of washing up, I can get a man to bed. Two, even. At the same time.” She mused.  
  
“A man? With the way you've been eying my ass, you're nowhere near as straight as you may think you are.”  
  
“WHOA, who said I was eying your ass?!” She pulled Adora away quickly, glancing back to check if Scorpia followed. She hadn't but she looked contemplative and that was not good. “Don’t fucking say that shit.” She whispered, a frown on her face. Scorpia was instead talking to Bow again. Good. Apparently, Bow and Glimmer had found them.  
  
“What? You're not out yet?” Adora asked amusedly. “Here you are chasing after me and you're not man enough to admit that you want to be spread out for a lady.”  
  
“Who says I’m a bottom?” She grits out.  
  
“Are you saying you wouldn't want my mouth on you? Who are you kidding?” Adora asked incredulously.  
  
Okay, so maybe she had a point but she wasn't a bottom. If anything, she was a switch.  
  
“Maybe I want my clit inside you, Adora.”

 

There was a distinctive realization of her secondary gender that seemingly caught Adora's attention-  
  
“Catra!” Scorpia was shocked, having come up behind them. Oh shit. Oops.  
  
“Scorpia! Hey buddy…”  
  
“Are you gay?” Scorpia asked and it was clear from her face that she was very confused.  
  
Adora glanced between them and she turned around and quietly went back to sweeping. Asshole.  
  
“What? No, I’m not gay, y’know how my irony works sometimes. No, but that Jew, she’s gay. She’s definitely gay.”  
  
“Uh-huh.” Adora snorted, rolling her eyes a bit. “I’m definitely gay, so gay that they had to create a new color of the rainbow just in my honor. It's between red and orange, it's called ‘Adora-able lesbian.” She pushed past them and went about sweeping the deck. Hot damn.  
  
Scorpia swallowed and she looked at her, “Catra?”  
  
“I-” She bit her lip. “I was going to tell you when I was ready.” As soon as she said that, she hurried off to Adora, avoiding looking at her best friend as she did so. Running away was a specialty of hers, yep, world-renowned for it actually.  
  
Adora had moved to a corner and she swept all the dust and dirt up into a small bucket with a frown.  
  
“I told her. Are you happy?” Catra looked at her as she got to her, folding her arms over herself.  
  
“That's your business, not mine but don't you feel lighter now that she knows?” The Jew's eyes slid up to her own before shifting away again as she set the broom aside and finally, she turned to face Catra with her own arms crossed over her chest.  
  
“I mean, kind of, but-” She looked into her eyes, watching her. “I’ve never really done that before, y’know?”  
  
“Yeah, whatever. I doubt it'll change anything though. She seems to care about you and shit.” Adora grumbled.  
  
“Did you have a bad experience or something?” Catra's curiosity was peaked as she gently slid closer to the Jew, pressing her back against a wall to whatever area of the ship this blocked the deck from.  
  
“You could say that.” She dumped the bucket of dirt off the side of the ship.  
  
“What happened?” She watched her as the dust drifted in the air for a moment before settling back on the railing and the side of the ship. “C’mon, make like that bucket and spill.”  
  
“I guess it's the least I could do after I outed you in front of your friend.” She sighed as she settled against the railing, a forlorn look spreading over her face. “When I was younger, I always knew that guys drove me crazy and not in a good way; I didn't like them at all and they didn't like me. That was that until my preteen years, I got caught kissing up a girl behind the schoolhouse, not a good idea by the way. That shit will get you killed by my parents and it nearly did. I have a scar on my chest to prove it.”  
  
Jesus Christ on a pogo-stick is that what Jews had to put up with? A queasy feeling rolled through her stomach and she grimaced, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. She wasn't a touchy-feely kind of person but Adora seemed like she needed some kind of comfort after telling that.  
  
“People suck.” She managed after a moment to Adora's raised brows and she shrugged it off. “People suck, but it doesn't mean that everybody will treat you like that. It just means that they didn't deserve you for even a second.”  
  
“I've been thinking about going back. My mother wants me to, she doesn't like the idea of me sweeping and cleaning ships.” She grinned a tiny bit. “She worries too much.”  
  
“I dunno, I mean, you have to clean the third class bathrooms. That’s a shit job. Could get sick-”  
  
“But it's okay! Catra said she would just piss over the edge of the boat to make it easier for you!” Scorpia clapped her on the shoulder.  
  
Adora's eyes widened in horror, “What!?”  
  
“Scorpia.” Catra turned to her, pulling him away from Adora. “Scorpia, I was joking, I’m not going to pee over the side of the fucking ship.”  
  
Scorpia chuckled loudly, “Did you see her face!?” She couldn't stop laughing.  
  
“Scorpia, it’s not funny!”  
  
“It was hilarious! Do you think she’ll let you date her after that?” She asked amusedly.  
  
“I’m not sure, I can go check.” She turned to see if Adora was still where they both last left her.  
  
The Jew had her arms crossed and she was glaring at the two of you vehemently before turning and taking off with her broom and bucket again.  
  
“Looks like you're going to have to hit her with that Michalka charm.” She joked.  
  
“Yes, yes I will.”

* * *

 

Later that night, it was time for dinner and she has never been so ready to eat in her entire life.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Dinner was not bad actually, it was far from the usual things that she bought when she had the money, which was a good thing. Hell, after that meal, she had to rub her stomach from how bloated she was. The last time she ate this much was probably back before her family had died.

Scorpia was animated across from her, hands flying in quick gestures as she talked to a pale lady with long blonde hair that sat next to her. Honestly, this girl was cute too, which made zero sense. Why were so many cuties on here? Any more and she was afraid that her heart might give out.

She pushed up from the table and winked at Scorpia, “I'll catch you at the berth,  _ nene _ .” She teased in her usual brand of flirting before stepping from her chair and continuing out of the room. Even in third-class, the dining area was extravagant.

Before she could get too far along the corridor, she heard a scoff above her and she peered upwards. A few upperclassmen sneered down at her and tilted- oh, yeah. He tilted his glass of  _ red wine  _ and it hit her, plastering her hair to her face and drenching her shirt. Good thing the shirt was already a lost cause what with the paint stains but it didn't make her any less mad.

“Oye!” She yelled angrily, shaking her fist with as much fury as she could. She probably- no, definitely- she definitely looked like an idiot doing this. “What the hell was that for?!”

A few mutters, inaudible from her position came from them and then one of them threw down his glass and Catra threw her arms up right away, shielding herself as the glass broke on her. Okay, wow, these assholes were acting like-

“Spic!”

Oh, so it's a race thing. Nothing new then. Ha…

Racism was something that she had grown up around ever since she left Cuba, this… this she could handle. Or she could if they were on the streets and not a huge ocean liner whose captain would be more liable to throw her, a third class passenger, overboard for hurting a second or first class person than to take disciplinary actions against them.

She managed a glare and tried to keep under the walkway that covered her from their view. Her hands and eyes stung, both from the pain and embarrassment of it all. She should be used to this, so why was she crying?

Catra paused under a light and brushed the glass from her hair before even glancing down at her hands. They were scraped up, a huge jagged bit of glass stuck from her wrist and she gritted her teeth, taking it and dragging it out. Blood spotted up immediately and she threw the glass aside, and let her arm bleed. It wasn't like it was too detrimental, she could live with it bleeding until it was all finished.

“People suck.”

She lifted her head and blinked away her tears as she looked behind her. Adora stood a few feet away, brooming up the shattered glass as if this happened all the time.

“No big deal, I'm sure there'll be more people like that in the States.” She remarks dryly.

This wasn't even the worst thing that had happened to her, uppity white people usually acted like this to her. No use dwelling on it or anything. Hell, Scorpia had been the first to treat her like an actual person.

“It is a pretty big deal, you shouldn't have to deal with that,” Adora argued, anger burning in her eyes the kind that promised retribution. It kind of made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Adora, there is nothing you or I can do to change their attitudes, hell, I bet that it'll take more than a hundred years to even begin down that road.” She scoffs. “Scorpia tried warning me that it's worse in the States. She said that they only just released the black people that they had from slavery. I'm not black but… what do you think is going to happen to me there?”

She honestly wanted to know. There wasn't much talk about how the American people acted towards Latinos but if they acted so horribly to the blacks, what's keeping them from hating her race as well?

Adora let out a slow breath and turned, staring at Catra with a sad look in her eyes. Whatever she was about to say, it wouldn’t be good.

“Last year, they dragged a fourteen-year-old Mexican through the streets and hung him from a telephone pole. A mob of fifty decided they deserved to be his judge, jury, and executioner. They say he killed someone, but I'm not sure if they only said that to cover their hides or not. There's a lot of lynching of both blacks and anyone that even looks Hispanic. It's not safe there.” Adora sighed and whatever look that had been on Catra's face made her flinch. She felt bad for it but that pissed her off.

“He was fourteen! He didn't deserve that even if he did kill someone. All that life- gone. Land of the Free, indeed.” Catra moved to the railing and rested her arms against it, moving her head to rest on her hands. The States were the lands of opportunities or was supposed to be. Instead, people were killing other people. How did that make sense?

“There's also segregation,” Adora added lightly from behind her.

“Segregation?” Why did she even ask, what was the point of asking if it was just going to make her more upset?

“Races are divided, whites think themselves superior there. Separate bathrooms, separate neighborhoods…” She trailed off.

“So far, the States sounds more like a goddamn cage for anyone not white. What's the point of living if you're thought of less than human? What kind of life is that?” Catra remarked miserably.

“I don't know.” Adora rested her own head beside her and she glanced into her too blue eyes. “It's absolute bullshit.”

“You can say that again. Tell me about how they treat women.”

They talked through the night like this, trading information and stories about the States and their own homelands. 


End file.
